Mass Limitations

Mass limits on this type come in pairs: a base figure and a higher figure that applies only if a particular design change advisory has been embodied. Read them as pairs and the chapter is straightforward; read only the first number of each pair and you will underload or overload a specific airframe.

At a glance

• Minimum flight mass1450 kg (3197 lb)
• Maximum take-off mass1900 kg (4189 lb)
• Maximum take-off mass (MÄM 42-678)1999 kg (4407 lb)
• Maximum zero fuel mass1765 kg (3891 lb)
• Maximum zero fuel mass (MÄM 42-659)1835 kg (4045 lb)
• Maximum landing mass1805 kg (3979 lb)
• Maximum landing mass (MÄM 42-659)1999 kg (4407 lb)
• Nose baggage30 kg (66 lb)
• Cabin baggage45 kg (100 lb)
• Baggage extension18 kg (40 lb)
• Cabin baggage plus extension together45 kg (100 lb)
• Approved ramp massMTOM + 8 kg (MTOM + 18 lb)

The four mass limits

The lightest the aeroplane may fly is 1450 kg (3197 lb). For take-off the ceiling is 1900 kg (4189 lb), or 1999 kg (4407 lb) where MÄM 42-678 has been carried out. With no fuel aboard the ceiling is 1765 kg (3891 lb), or 1835 kg (4045 lb) under MÄM 42-659. For landing it is 1805 kg (3979 lb), or 1999 kg (4407 lb) under that same advisory.

Two different advisories are at work, and they do not raise the same limits. MÄM 42-678 moves the take-off mass; MÄM 42-659 moves the zero fuel and landing masses. Knowing which advisory an airframe carries is therefore not enough on its own — you also have to know which limit it touches.

WARNING — Load the aeroplane beyond these masses and you overstress the structure. Its handling and its performance both deteriorate as well.

Baggage

In the standard configuration the nose baggage compartment, in the fuselage nose, takes 30 kg (66 lb). The cabin baggage compartment, behind the rear seats, takes 45 kg (100 lb), and the baggage extension behind it takes 18 kg (40 lb) — but the two together are also limited to 45 kg (100 lb).

That combined limit is the trap. Loading each compartment to its own maximum would put 63 kg aft of the rear seats, and the aeroplane does not permit it.

If OÄM 42-207 is carried out the arrangement changes entirely: a standard baggage compartment between the rear seats and the baggage bulkhead takes 30 kg (66 lb), and a short baggage extension takes 15 kg (33 lb).

Ramp mass

In some countries a flight is defined as beginning when the powerplant is started. For those countries a ramp mass of maximum take-off mass plus 8 kg (plus 18 lb) is approved — the allowance covering what is burned before lift-off. At the moment of lift-off the maximum permitted take-off mass must not be exceeded.

Check yourself

• Which advisory raises maximum take-off mass, and which raises maximum landing mass?

• What is the minimum flight mass?

• What are the three aft baggage limits in the standard configuration, and which of them overrides the others?

• How does OÄM 42-207 change the baggage arrangement?

• What ramp mass allowance is approved, and by what moment must the take-off mass limit be met?

Study aid — always fly your aircraft's current AFM/POH.